This is not The End: Update 8 for Minecraft XBLA kills bugs and does little else

On December 10, we published a story detailing the contents of the then-upcoming Update 7 for 4J Studios’ Xbox Live version of beloved sandbox title Minecraft. That update was supposed to add animal breeding (among other new features) to the game, and when it was released on December 19 it did just that. That’s de rigueur for 4J Studios’ updates for Minecraft, and we expected this trend to continue with Update 8. Our piece on Update 7 specifically mentions that 4J Studios planned to include The End – an area that effectively serves as Minecraft’s final challenge – in the next update, but this morning the company issued a list of additions and changes included in the imminent Update 8, and neither The End nor any new content is included.

Have a look at the full list:

– Fix for random crash on Kick Player.– Fix for a random crash on loading the tutorial.– Fix for freeze when writing on a sign as an autosave starts.– Fix for crash when attempting to enter an online enabled game session after losing connection to the Xbox LIVE service.– Performance improvement for the Enchantment interface.– Fix to display a message when monsters are nearby on trying to sleep in a bed.– Fix for an issue causing blocks to reappear after being destroyed when the server is busy.– Fix for Experience Orbs being invisible for a period of time when created.– Fix to force a Nether Fortress, Blaze Spawner and Nether Wart to always be present in the Nether for a newly created world.– Fix for autosave not working when the host has gone into an idle state.– Fix to increase the spawn rate for Mooshrooms.– Change to make Blazes drop Glowstone Dust as well as Blaze Rods.– Fix to player experience level display in two player vertical splitscreen mode.– Fix for Quick Move not being possible while holding something in the cursor.– Fix for armor position on Bad Santa when sat down.– Changed “Download Content” menu to “Minecraft Store”.– New photo frames for avatar items in the Minecraft Store.– Fix for Magma Cube hit boxes.– Added an Awkward Potion to the Potions page in the Creative Menu.– Fix to show the aura of enchanted items for other players in an online game.– Fix for tools enchanted with Unbreaking occasionally repairing themselves.– Changes to improve breeding – Love Mode status is now network synchronised, and animals react more correctly if spawn limits are reached when breeding.– Fix for issue with “Take Half” in the Brewing Stand interface.– Fix to allow the map to be displayed when the player has turned off Display Hand.– Fix for potion effects being removed after using the Nether Portal.– Fix to stop the item in hand being changed when traveling to/from the Nether.– Fix for Compass not pointing to the original spawn point after having been in The Nether.– Fix to allow players to be able to eat food even if they are not allowed to build and mine.– Fix to allow client players to toggle Custom Skin Animation.– Fix for player gamertag border color being wrong after a respawn/dimension change.– Fix for issue in splitscreen where it was possible to craft items without a player having the resources required.– Fix to remove the Love Mode tooltip when animals are unable to enter Love Mode.– Change to moderator option description in the Host and Player Options.– Fix for the submerged edge of the world emitting a faint light.– Fix for lighting issue with mobs in water.– Fix to stop food being removed when feeding animals in Creative Mode.– Fix to stop Bones being removed when taming wolves in Creative Mode.– Change to make baby wolves tame when born.– Fix for Blaze Rods not being identified as fuel for a furnace.– Fix for issue with sky lighting values making bedrock layer fully lit.

Though we’re as happy to see bug fixes as anyone else, it’s a bit disappointing that 4J Studios released this massive update without anything novel to show for it. The PC/Mac version of Minecraft still includes reams of content not seen in the Xbox Live game, and yet this update doesn’t close the gap between the two platforms. We contacted 4J Studios and received a polite apology along with news that The End would still be coming to the XBLA Minecraft, only that it had been delayed until Update 9. 4J Studios’ Twitter account claims that the developer hopes to have Update 8 available by the end of January, so barring catastrophe we expect to see Update 9 either toward the end of February or the beginning of March. We’ll bring you more on the status of Minecraft and its periodic updates as 4J Studios makes things public.